Modi-Xi Meeting In Tianjin Today Ahead Of SCO Summit, First India-China Talks In 7 Years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on Sunday, ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, marking an important step in India-China relations. This will be Modi's first visit to China in seven years and the second meeting between the two leaders in the past ten months, the previous one taking place on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

The Prime Minister is in Tianjin, northern China, from August 31 to September 1 for the SCO summit. "Landed in Tianjin, China. Looking forward to deliberations at the SCO Summit and meeting various world leaders," Modi said in a post on X on Saturday. His meeting with Xi Jinping is scheduled for around noon local time (9:30 AM IST) and will last about 40 minutes.

While bilateral meetings at multilateral events are routine, this engagement holds greater significance due to the recent strains in India-U.S. relations following President Donald Trump's decision to impose 50 percent tariffs on New Delhi over its purchase of Russian oil. It also comes close on the heels of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi earlier this month, where he and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval achieved a 10-point consensus during border talks.

Signs of a thaw in ties between New Delhi and Beijing have been evident since Modi and Xi's 2024 meeting. Progress since then includes the revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, resumption of Indian visas for Chinese tourists, and initiatives to restore direct flights between the two countries.

On August 19, Doval and Wang held the 24th Round of Talks on the India-China Boundary Question in Delhi. "During the talks, a 10-point consensus was reached, and the two sides agreed to utilise the border management and control mechanisms through diplomatic and military channels," Chinese defence spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said in Beijing, commenting for the first time on the outcome.

The Doval-Wang discussions also delivered five concrete outcomes, notably the creation of an expert group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) to explore an "early harvest in boundary delimitation."

Both leaders are expected to carry these discussions forward in Tianjin, with the focus extending to border mechanisms, trade, and investments.